She didn’t live for money like he did. She was a principled woman.
“What are we talking about? Hundreds of euros? Thousands? It took you all these years to figure out she took some bills, is that it?”
“I’m not talking about money.”
I don’t get it.
“I’m listening.”
“She stole something worth more than all my money.”
He gets my attention.
“What exactly are we talking about?”
“I won’t tell you. Just know that I want it back, and I know you have it.”
I sigh.
“You want me to find it, right?”
“Exactly.”
“How can I find something if I don’t know what it is?”
“Don’t take me for a fool. I know it’s in your possession.”
“Tell me what it is and I’ll tell you if I have it.”
He frowns.
“Not a chance.”
burned
“When she died, you burned almost everything that belonged to her. What makes you think you didn’t burn it too?”
He clenches his jaw.
“That bitch was too smart to leave it within my reach. She hid it somewhere inaccessible. She left you books. I’m guessing you kept them. I want you to go through them one by one and find what’s rightfully mine. I know she hid it in one of those old books.”
“It’s a paper?”
“You’ll know when you find it.”
“If I give you this thing, you swear to never bother my loved ones again until you die.”
I wish I could ask that for myself too, but I know it’s useless.
My priority is protecting the people I love.
“This isn’t a pact. I’m the one who decides what happens. Got it?”
1/6
19:01 Mon, 25 Aug M
Chapter 98
“I’ll bring it to you as soon as I find it, but leave us alone.”
He watches me, then pushes Mathieu, throwing him violently to the ground.
The two men holding him pick him back up and restrain him again.
I try to go help him, but Khalid’s men hold me back.
“I’ve always wanted to do something with you. I think now’s the time.”
He sends chills down my spine. I mask my fear.
“I’m going to offer you another deal.”
I raise an eyebrow.
36%
“I have a whip in my car. Option one: I use it on you and leave Maria and your friend alone until you bring me what’s mine. Option two; same deal, but I use it on your friend here instead.”
Mathieu is terrified, but I know he’d let himself be whipped just to protect me.
“Don’t do it, please! I’m willing to take the hits!”
There it is. He just confirmed it.
I lock eyes with Khalid.
“Bring your whip. I’m ready to take your blows.”
He grins wide. The sadist is thrilled at the thought of hurting me.
“I must say, you impress me.”
He waves to one of his men, who heads to a car.
He pulls a whip from the trunk, likely meant for horses, and hands it to the bastard along with a pair of handcuffs.
Khalid takes the whip, clearly excited to fulfill his violent desires.
He’s planned everything.
“Strip.”
Of course, he wants the marks to show.
Thear Mathieu crying louder and louder, still held by the two men.
I guess the sight will traumatize him.
“Inara, don’t do this! Take me instead!”
This is my father. This is my responsibility.
“My daughter’s already made her choice.”
2/6
28
19:01 Mon, 25 Aug M
Chapter 98
I find myself in my underwear faster than I’d have liked, in front of all these men eyeing me like a piece of meat.
Mathieu is crying.
Khalid smiles, satisfied with this new humiliation.
The cold air on my bare skin makes me shiver.
“On your knees!”
I obey and kneel before Khalid.
He begins circling me with the whip in his hand, trying to decide the best way to inflict the most pain.
He positions himself behind me. I hear the whip crack against the ground.
He starts whipping my back with full force. I try not to scream, but the pain is stronger than my pride.
“This is for all the times that son of a bitch Alexander humiliated and hit me!”
He lashes out on me without limit or mercy.
I feel wounds opening, surely bleeding heavily.
“You look so much like your mother, you disgust me!”
My hands burn from the cuffs. I clench them as hard as I can, trying in vain to channel the pain.
“I’ve always hated you!”
Blood pours from every place he hits, making me pay for being born.
At first, his blows are calculated, but then he’s overtaken by rage.
Every part of my body is struck.
I scream like an animal in agony, but he doesn’t care.
He revels in my suffering.
“I hope you suffer as much as that bitch of a mother made me suffer!”
What is he even talking about anymore?
1 bite my lip to keep from crying.
I can scream, but I won’t give him the satisfaction of tears. That would humiliate me more, and I refuse.
“You really are pathetic, Khalid.”
His final blow lands on my face.
The pain is indescribable, burning intensely.
“I’m done with you for now. Don’t forget, tomorrow you’ve got work to do, little slut.”
3/6
19:01 Mon, 25 Aug M
Chapter 98
I collapse on the ground, body wrecked.
I hear the footsteps of the men heading to their cars, engines starting the end of my torment.
A few seconds later, Mathieu approaches without daring to touch me, afraid he’ll hurt me.
“Inara… don’t close your eyes, please.”
“Are… are you okay?”
“How can you ask me that! You’re bleeding all over! Your whole body is wounded!”
I’m in so much pain. I can’t move.
Khalid has never left me in this state before.
“I can’t drive and neither can you. We won’t find a hotel here, not at this hour.”
Mathieu stands and goes to my car. He takes my phone and makes a call, staying a little distance from me.
Once he finishes, he comes back to stay by my side.
I’m crumpled on the ground, almost dead.
I’m fighting not to close my eyes, but it’s so hard…
3:45 a.m.
Alexander
I arrive at the address Mathieu gave me.
His call surprised me. I’m the last person he and Inara want to see.
Something bad must have happened.
In the distance, I see Inara car. Then I spot Mathieu crouched beside a body.
Don’t tell me it’s Inara’s.
I’m in shock when I see her nearly naked body, only covered by Mathieu’s jacket.
She’s handcuffed, her body marked with many bloody open wounds.
“What happened?”
My voice is cold.
We’re both staring at her.
“I’ll explain. We need to get her into your car.”
Her usually tan skin is pale.
Her lips, normally so pink and full, are now tinted blue–violet from the cold.
4/6
36%
19:02 Mon, 25 Aug
Chapter 98
I bend down to lift her gently and hold her against my chest.
She must be in pain, but since she’s unconscious, she makes no sound.
“I don’t know if you can hear me, but it’s over now. I’m here, baby.”
I lay her on the back seat and cover her with a blanket.
I glance at her car.
I’ll have one of my men pick it up at dawn.
A few minutes into the drive, I look at Mathieu beside me.
He’s covered in dirt and has multiple scratch–like injuries.
“I want an explanation.”
Mathieu runs a hand over his face. He sighs and looks up.
“She came to save me, and when we were leaving, we were ambushed.”
“Ambushed by who? The person who kidnapped you?”
“No, Khalid, her father.”
At the mention of that name, I grip the steering wheel hard to keep from wrecking the car.
30%
“He came to talk to her with ten men. They held Inara down so she couldn’t move. Her father pointed a gun at me and threatened to kill me if she didn’t behave. She had no choice but to stop resisting. Khalid and she started arguing. Then he mentioned her mother and ordered Inara to bring him something that seems really valuable, something her mother stole.”
Inara’s mother? She’s the one who stole from Khalid?
I thought she was just one of the women he slept with.
I don’t show any reaction; hot to raise Mathieu’s suspicions.
What he just said changes everything.
“Did Inara give him what he wanted?”
“She didn’t know what it was. She promised to give it to him once she found it.”
He’s so upset and worried he doesn’t even realize what he’s revealing.
Thide my relief knowing Inara doesn’t know what it is- and more importantly, Khalid doesn’t have it.
“Why is she in that state?”
Mathieu lowers his head.
“Her father gave her a choice: either she’d get whipped and he’d leave Maria and me alone, or I’d get whipped instead. She chose to sacrifice herself.”
5/6
19:02 Mon, 25 Aug
Chapter 98
I look at her through the rearview mirror.
She’s lying still, broken.
She really went through hell.
“I’m going to kill Khalid with my own hands.”
Mathieu lowers his head again.
“It’s all my fault. If I’d been braver, if I knew how to fight like you or her, I could’ve protected her! She’s in this state because of me!”
His voice is filled with guilt and sorrow.
He looks up, fighting back tears.
“It’s not your fault. You’re her friend, and she’ll always take the hits for the people she loves.”
“I haven’t forgotten that you manipulated her for your own gain, but… thank you for coming to get us. It proves I wasn’t entirely wrong about you.”
I give him a small nod, then look again at Inara and her body broken by her father’s hate.
1
AD
Comment
Send gift
No Ads
